Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” -Warren Buffett
Charge premium prices and you'll get better clients and make more money, right?!
Well, yes and no.
Premium pricing can absolutely help you attract high-end clients and compensate your work on a bigger scale, but pricing isn’t the whole story or reason we are or aren’t making bank and working with our dream clients.
This approach treats pricing as the problem to solve. It becomes all about finding the perfect price point and what that price means. When what we really need to address is what’s behind the price.
Pricing is simply the vehicle through which you position your work and get paid. Pricing doesn’t solve mindset issues or do your marketing and sales for you.
We can’t solve mindset issues like lack of self-worth by charging more. Just like we can’t address customer service and the results we deliver simply by adding an extra zero to the end of our invoices.
Money is neutral and exacerbates what’s already there. Add a high price tag to quality work and some kick-ass confidence and you’ll amplify both and attract clients to match. Throw a hefty price tag on top of half-baked offers and feelings of not being good enough, and you’ll attract customers who mirror this.
Pricing isn’t a scapegoat, and I find many people want to use it as one. This goes for high and low pricing!
High pricing does attract higher-end clients, but so does lower pricing. If this weren’t the case, Target wouldn’t have so many celebrities talking about how much they love a Target shopping spree and the numerous ‘luxury’ boutiques here in the city wouldn't close just as quickly as they open.
It’s a misconception that if we simply ‘price high’, dream clients will come flooding in. It’s also a bit of story that not charging premium prices attracts difficult clients.
There are amazing clients at every price point, just like there are not-so-great ones at every price point. For every nickel-and-dimer you’ll deal with at lower prices, you’ve got high-maintenance and demanding on the higher end.
It’s not the price point that attracts quality customers, it’s YOU.
Premium pricing isn’t the silver bullet to overnight success and ‘making it’ that some people want you to believe. There’s no substitute for the substance that’s on the other side of the price tag.
When it comes to positioning and perception, price is the lipstick that dresses your offer up or down. Price positions you and your brand. When what’s behind the lipstick is solid and confident, a premium price tag is congruent, helps add perceived value, and attracts people looking for a premium product.
But what really attracts those quality customers and sells at any amount is you. You and what you bring to the table, your message, the value you deliver, and your belief in what it is you’re offering.
I’m ALL for appropriate premium pricing and being compensated well for what we do. And many of my heart-centered clients could stand to raise their prices. That’s NOT what this is about.
Money amplifies what’s already there. Pricing is the same.
This is true on both ends of the spectrum. This isn’t an either or. Price high or price low.
Pricing can’t act as a stand-in for our work’s value and the service we deliver. It will also never be a stand-in for our personal worth. You don’t get to avoid your stuff through pricing, it will only follow you.
Pricing high isn’t the ‘secret’ to making more money. It’s a piece to the business puzzle and needs to be done with clarity and intention.
It’s not a high price that attracts ‘high vibe clients’, it’s a high vibe that does that.
If you want to attract better clients and customers, start with YOU.
Start with drilling in on your mindset and getting fully sold on yourself and what you sell.
Price what feels right for you right now with where you’re at.
Then, deliver value ten times the amount you’re asking for.
Create the value that warrants the price tag and learn how to articulate this.
Learn to set and hold boundaries like a boss.
Over deliver and serve your people so damn well the price isn’t an issue.
Help people solve their problems and get results.
You get great clients by showing up by attracting great clients, and the easiest way to do that is by doing great work. Period.
You make great money by getting visible, marketing yourself, and making offers.
At the end of the day, money is an energy and value EXCHANGE. This means it’s a two-way street.
There is no wrong or right price but there is a wrong or right for your business. When our mindset and experience don’t match up with what Danielle Laporte calls our ‘money shoes’, they’ll feel too big and we’ll only self-sabotage selling at this price.
Want my Strategy FOr raising prices without the sabotage?
I am all for pricing high and not undercharging. One thousand and ten percent, and I believe in using a staircase approach.
Pricing is emotional and energetic as much as it is strategic, and it needs to FEEL right. Most of us aren’t going to feel great jumping our prices way outside our comfort zone, and this will only push potential clients away.
Staircasing your pricing simply means pricing where you’re at now, then stretching to the next level, the next step on the stair case, outside your comfort zone.
Then, integrate and settle in at this new price point until it becomes comfortable and results start rolling in or until you’re hitting growing pains (i.e. a waiting list, awesome client results, new tools, new skills, new business investments or upgrades, etc.). Then, it’s time for the next stretch and stair step!
This way, at every level you’re confident in what you’re asking for which will attract amazing clients at every price point. You’ll feel great about showing up and serving them (versus worrying about delivering ‘enough’ and being 'worth it'), and that makes for happy, ‘high-vibe’ and 'high-end' clients.
You’ll naturally be ready to grow to the next level in a way that feels good without kicking into self-sabotaging behavior.
Want to book high-end clients? Go out and get client results. Charge what feels right for you right now. Share value that’s in line with what you’re asking for. BE the energy and ‘high-vibe’ you want to work with and attract, and watch the 'premium clients' roll in at any price point.
Next week, we’ll talk about the flip side, undercharging and undervaluing our work. Because that also isn't the answer!!
Wishing you your version of success!
P.S. Want some help getting clear on your pricing strategy and connecting with your dream clients, so you can turn them into paying clients? I'd love to help you do just that, so you can build a business you're wildly in love with that also gets you paid!
Click here to learn more about working together and book a free consultation.
